diff --git a/src/login/loginctl.c b/src/login/loginctl.c
index 342ac56d90..3db7224623 100644
--- a/src/login/loginctl.c
+++ b/src/login/loginctl.c
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ static int show_table(Table *table, const char *word) {
         assert(table);
         assert(word);
 
-        if (table_get_rows(table) > 1) {
+        if (table_get_rows(table) > 1 || OUTPUT_MODE_IS_JSON(arg_output)) {
                 r = table_set_sort(table, (size_t) 0, (size_t) -1);
                 if (r < 0)
                         return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to sort table: %m");
diff --git a/src/machine/machinectl.c b/src/machine/machinectl.c
index d98027a0ca..693184f0a1 100644
--- a/src/machine/machinectl.c
+++ b/src/machine/machinectl.c
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ static int show_table(Table *table, const char *word) {
         assert(table);
         assert(word);
 
-        if (table_get_rows(table) > 1) {
+        if (table_get_rows(table) > 1 || OUTPUT_MODE_IS_JSON(arg_output)) {
                 r = table_set_sort(table, (size_t) 0, (size_t) -1);
                 if (r < 0)
                         return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to sort table: %m");
diff --git a/src/shared/format-table.h b/src/shared/format-table.h
index 5ff247953b..85e3afce4c 100644
--- a/src/shared/format-table.h
+++ b/src/shared/format-table.h
@@ -75,4 +75,4 @@ const void *table_get(Table *t, TableCell *cell);
 const void *table_get_at(Table *t, size_t row, size_t column);
 
 int table_to_json(Table *t, JsonVariant **ret);
-int table_print_json(Table *t, FILE *f, unsigned json_flags);
+int table_print_json(Table *t, FILE *f, JsonFormatFlags json_flags);